I love Rush (for many decades now). My brother, who is also a big fan, sent me this clip yesterday. It made me laugh pretty hard. Enjoy! Happy Saturday Everybody.
RUSH were definitely one of the greatest bands of all-time. The three things you cite...I completely disagree with. Peart's drumming "over the top about 90% of the time"??? I'll just let that stand as an example of how far off you are on this. I strongly suspect your newfound problem with RUSH is nothing that you specifically mention here.
I appreciate the offer, however, the wife and I celebrated our 20th anniversary in December. She brought CDs of 2112, Moving Pictures, and Roll The Bones into the marriage. One day, I was listening to Max Webster's "Battle Scar" in the car, which she had never heard. Once Geddy started singing, she said, "Okay, who was the other guy?"
These are pretty accurate for me, someone who respects Rush but rarely has any interest in hearing their music.
I reckon you'll enjoy the albums immediately following Signals: Grace Under Pressure Power Windows Hold Your Fire
She does not like Frank, or King Crimson, Faith No More, Captain Beefheart, or very much that smacks of thrash metal or jazz fusion. On the other hand, she is a big fan of Roger Waters' Radio KAOS album. (She even named a cat KAOS.). She's seen The Moody Blues live a few times, too.
If some of the people in this discussion had their wish(es) in terms of changing what they did not like about Rush, then this thread would not exist. Thirteen platinum and ten gold albums, and they could still fill arenas and sheds during their final tour. Go back and change the lyrics, drumming, or vocals, and this would not be true. They did something right.
1. How many songs from Rush did you listen to come up with this conclusion? The Signals era is definitely when started to make a vast improvement. 2. Subjective. He's not the only artsit where his vocals is a turn off for some folks. You like it or you don't. 3. Some times it can be but that's what makes me love his drumming so much. I don't know many people that can achieve what he did.
I cant stand Morrissey's vocals nor do I care for him as a person. Geddy is well known as a true mensch. Who wins?
Exactly. I love Rush, but for those who do not, it doesn't bother me. Sure, I may push back on some (what I feel are unfair) criticisms, but ultimately, we all like what we like. And unlike some, I never start threads about artists I do not care for or go into existing threads about them and post a bunch. There is so much good music in the world, and I find it better to talk about the artists I love.
They were quite a quirky band in many ways....three geeks who worked hard and became world class musicians. I listen to nearly everything I get both how Rush could drive maniacal devotion and a degree of ridicule. If you are not mature enough or good hearted enough to see the good things in Rush then it's your loss but I don't want to be a hypocrite there are bands that drive me nuts. They represent as well a time when a rock band could get time to grow and develop and they absolutely never took the easy way forward albeit not much post mid-80's does much for me. As a 14-16 year old I worshipped and I still listen to them all the time now after years of drifting away and that's a special thing to go back and get close to being that young person and the escape they provided me when the world was confusing.
Not sure why people start threads with a negative theme. I guess you just like to argue until the post inevitably gets shut down. You should start a 'Re-evaluation of The Beatles especially the overrated Paul McCartney' thread and let me know how that goes.
Reading these criticisms of Rush makes me thing that some of y’all must be nothing more than bunch of two-lane wide alloy-car drivers, jealous of the rest of us driving our brilliant red Barchettas.
I consider myself a fan of the band. I like their first three albums a lot. I love 2112 through Moving Pictures. They lost me with the rest of their ‘80’s output, but I liked most of the stuff from Counterparts on at least somewhat, and some of it a lot, even though for me they never got back to their peak level. I saw them live a few times, and it’s hard to deny that they’re brilliantly talented musicians. We’re they at times excessive? Probably, but I always liked that. I also liked Geddy Lee’s vocals, though I can totally see how people could hate his earlier, ultra high-pitched stuff. I do think a lot of Neil’s lyrics were pretty cringeworthy. His attempts at philosophizing were pretty ham fisted and sophomoric. That never bothered me either. So, in summary, I thought they were a great band, not without its flaws, and definitely an acquired taste.
I think Neil's lyrics in the '80s were mostly excellent. No more "By-tor" fare—in lieu of, we got Neil the Philosopher. And I love the presence of electronics in 1980s Rush. Synths rule!
They aren’t for everyone. For me, it was slow to get into, but I have come to think their first 8 albums are absolute gems. Maybe just periodically revisit until you’re sure it will never click. Just thinking there are 3 guys doing all that really blows me away.
I tried to explore and enjoy Rush late in life … they were a blind spot and I assumed I’d dive into the catalogue and love exploring it. What did I learn? They’re idiosyncratic - they’re not for everyone but inspire seriously deep devotion with those they connect with. They changed a lot musically from their early prog metal days to their keyboard era in the 80s. I guess Yes did too, but these are very different eras, and no reason listeners will enjoy both equally. Lee’s vocals are not to my taste - it’s a thin, Mickey-Mouse-on-helium thing, but it’s a huge part of the unique Rush “sound”. Overall, I enjoyed 2112 (and side 2 more than side 1) and Moving Pictures was great. I found A Farewell to Kings and Permanent Waves decent enough, but I didn’t find them to be the unambiguous classics they’re often heralded as, as the songs just don’t grab me enough, even if I can objectively hear the technical quality others dig. The Netflix documentary was nice - they seemed like great guys.
We were lucky to have them touring in North America as much as they did. Even if you don’t like Rush you have to respect their work ethic. Happy I got to see them live once.
